Effects of social position on subsequent courtship and mating activity in an African cichlid

Within social hierarchies, rank can be dynamic and modulated by changes in molecular and/or physiological substrates. These changes can shape various behavioral outcomes that lead to the reorganization of hierarchies and their communities. Here, we sought to better understand how social environment and rank shape male spawning behaviors and outcomes in African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni . First, using a social dyad paradigm, we generated territorial (T)/ Non-territorial (NT) male pairs. After establishing the social hierarchy, the behaviors of the Ts and NTs were recorded and scored. Afterward, pairs were separated and individually moved into a spawning phase, which consisted of a new tank with novel females and no other males where their behaviors were scored.

While previous studies have shown how territorial/non-territorial/ascending/descending males have unique behavioral profiles, we sought to deepen this interpretation with a focus on the latency of decision-making and transition matrices representing enriched sequences of behavior. We found that while the courtship behaviors are shared between stably territorial and ascending males in the spawning phase, only the animals that were territorial in the dyad phase were the ones that succeeded in being reproductive in the subsequent spawning phase.